scholarly journals Emotional disorders evidenced by family caregivers of older people with Alzheimer’s disease

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-61
Author(s):  
Carlene Souza Silva Manzini ◽  
Francisco Assis Carvalho do Vale
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Family Member ◽  
Family Caregivers ◽  
Emotional Disorders ◽  
Care Quality ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Mild Depression ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Multiprofessional Team

ABSTRACT The task of caring for a family member with dementia is associated with caregiver physical and emotional problems. The patient’s decline in health and specific needs contribute directly to this situation. Objective: To evaluate burden, stress, depression and anxiety symptoms in family caregivers of elderly with Alzheimer’s disease. Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive, correlational and quantitative study was carried out. The sample consisted of 66 family caregivers of elderly with Alzheimer’s disease, whom attended the Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology Outpatient Clinic of the Federal University of São Carlos, in the city of São Carlos, SP, Brazil. Results: Of the caregivers evaluated in the severe AD subgroup, 47.3% had intense burden; 86, 4% exhibited significant stress levels; 57% presented severe anxiety levels and 36.9% presented mild depression symptoms. Conclusion: Caring for a family member with Alzheimer’s disease generates burden, stress, anxiety and depression. Support groups comprising a multiprofessional team can be set up to assist caregivers. These actions can help caregivers cope with the daily demands and challenges and ensure better care quality in an increasingly aging population.

scholarly journals Alzheimer’s Disease Caregiver Characteristics and Their Relationship with Anticipatory Grief

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (16) ◽  
pp. 8838
Author(s):  
Alba Pérez-González ◽  
Josep Vilajoana-Celaya ◽  
Joan Guàrdia-Olmos
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Family Caregivers ◽  
Depressive Symptomatology ◽  
Anticipatory Grief ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Sociodemographic Data ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Cross Sectional Design ◽  
Person With Dementia

In Alzheimer’s disease, two fundamental aspects become important for caregivers: ambiguity and ambivalence. Thus, anticipatory grief is considered an active psychological process that is very different from the mere anticipation of death. The present study aims to determine which characteristics of family caregivers of people with dementia, such as age, gender, educational level, relationship with the person with dementia, years with dementia or years as a caregiver, are related to the presence of anticipatory grief. A cross-sectional design was employed. The sample consisted of a total of 129 subjects who cared for a family member with dementia. A sociodemographic data sheet and a battery of tests measure the presence of anticipatory grief, caregiver burden and/or psychopathology. The results obtained allowed us to confirm some of the hypotheses regarding the anticipatory grief construct, the importance of the care time factor, in years and per day, as well as the relevance of the previous demographic and psychopathological profile (being female, spouse function and possible depressive symptomatology). Likewise, from the prediction analyzes performed, it seems that these variables can predict anticipatory grief. These results propose interesting opportunities to formulate care proposals to professionals and family caregivers in relation to care tasks and caregiver skills.

scholarly journals Neuropsychiatric symptoms of the elderly with Alzheimer's disease and the family caregivers' distress

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luana Baldin Storti ◽  
Débora Teles Quintino ◽  
Natália Michelato Silva ◽  
Luciana Kusumota ◽  
Sueli Marques
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Family Caregivers ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Neuropsychiatric Symptoms ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Mixed Dementia ◽  
Neuropsychiatric Inventory ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Family

ABSTRACT Objective: to analyze the relationship between the distress of the family caregiver and the presence of neuropsychiatric symptoms in elderly patients with Alzheimer's disease or mixed dementia. Method: a descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted in the Geriatric and Dementias Clinic of a general tertiary hospital, with 96 elderly people with Alzheimer's disease or mixed dementia and their family caregivers. Questionnaires to characterize the elderly and caregivers, and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory were used. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation test were performed. Results: 68.7% of the elderly were women, average age 80.8 years, 56.2% had Alzheimer's disease and 43.7%, mixed dementia. Among caregivers, 90.6% were women, average age 56, 70.8% took care of parents and 64.6% lived with the elderly. There was a strong (r = 0.82) and significant (p <0.01) correlation between the total score on the Neuropsychiatric Inventory and the total score on the Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Distress and strong (r = 0.80) and significant (p <0 01) correlation between the total score on the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Distress and the number of neuropsychiatric symptoms, i.e., the higher the number, frequency and severity of these symptoms in the elderly, the more intense is the caregiver distress. Conclusion: the presence of neuropsychiatric symptoms in the elderly was related to increased distress in caregivers.

Associations of knowledge of Alzheimer’s disease and memory loss and employment status with burden in African American and Caucasian family caregivers

Dementia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 847-860 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathy B Scott ◽  
Olivio J Clay ◽  
Fayron Epps ◽  
Fawn A Cothran ◽  
Ishan C Williams
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
African American ◽  
Family Caregivers ◽  
Caregiver Burden ◽  
Family Caregiving ◽  
Employment Status ◽  
Memory Loss ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Convenience Sample

Caring for an individual living with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia is especially challenging and impacts every aspect of the lives of the family caregivers. Family caregiving is defined as informal, unpaid care provided by family or friends to people with a chronic illness or disability. Caregiver burden, often experienced by a caregiver for a cognitively impaired family member, is multifaceted involving physical, psychological, social, and emotional problems. To date, little has been done to examine the relationship between the knowledge of Alzheimer’s disease and memory loss and caregiver burden. To fill this gap, a cross sectional, correlational design was employed to collect data from a convenience sample ( N = 104) of African American and Caucasian dementia family caregivers. For this study, caregivers ranged from 25 to 89 years of age with African American caregivers possessing significantly lower levels of knowledge about Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias compared to Caucasian caregivers, p < .001. There were 44 caregivers who scored 41 or greater on the Caregiver Burden Inventory corresponding to moderate to severe and higher levels of burden. Results of hierarchical multiple regression models indicated that higher levels Alzheimer’s disease knowledge was significantly associated with lower caregiver burden for all caregivers, B = −0.294, p < .01. Additionally, employment status was significantly associated with caregiver burden. This study highlights the benefits of including disease specific knowledge within educational components of dementia related interventions and programs involving families.

scholarly journals Perceived stress and depressive symptoms not neuropsychiatric symptoms predict caregiver burden in Alzheimer’s disease: a cross-sectional study

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manee Pinyopornpanish ◽  
Kanokporn Pinyopornpanish ◽  
Atiwat Soontornpun ◽  
Surat Tanprawate ◽  
Angkana Nadsasarn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Caregiver Burden ◽  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Neuropsychiatric Symptoms ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional

Abstract Background Caregiver burden affects the caregiver’s health and is related to the quality of care received by patients. This study aimed to determine the extent to which caregivers feel burdened when caring for patients with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and to investigate the predictors for caregiving burden. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted. One hundred two caregivers of patients with AD at Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital, a tertiary care hospital, were recruited. Assessment tools included the perceived stress scale (stress), PHQ-9 (depressive symptoms), Zarit Burden Interview-12 (burden), Clinical Dementia Rating (disease severity), Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaires (neuropsychiatric symptoms), and Barthel Activities Daily Living Index (dependency). The mediation analysis model was used to determine any associations. Results A higher level of severity of neuropsychiatric symptoms (r = 0.37, p < 0.01), higher level of perceived stress (r = 0.57, p < 0.01), and higher level of depressive symptoms (r = 0.54, p < 0.01) were related to a higher level of caregiver burden. The direct effect of neuropsychiatric symptoms on caregiver burden was fully mediated by perceived stress and depressive symptoms (r = 0.13, p = 0.177), rendering an increase of 46% of variance in caregiver burden by this parallel mediation model. The significant indirect effect of neuropsychiatric symptoms by these two mediators was (r = 0.21, p = 0.001). Conclusion Caregiver burden is associated with patients’ neuropsychiatric symptoms indirectly through the caregiver’s depressive symptoms and perception of stress. Early detection and provision of appropriate interventions and skills to manage stress and depression could be useful in reducing and preventing caregiver burden.

Sleep Behaviors in Persons With Alzheimer’s Disease: Associations With Caregiver Sleep and Affect

2020 ◽  
pp. 073346482097924
Author(s):  
Molly A. Mather ◽  
Holly B. Laws ◽  
Jasmine S. Dixon ◽  
Rebecca E. Ready ◽  
Anna M. Akerstedt
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Family Caregivers ◽  
Daily Diary ◽  
Poor Sleep ◽  
Multilevel Mediation ◽  
Diary Data ◽  
Retrospective Reports ◽  
Disease Associations ◽  
Sleep Behaviors

Poor sleep in persons with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a common stressor for family caregivers. Retrospective reports support associations between sleep disturbance in persons with AD and worse caregiver mood; however, prospective associations between sleep in persons with AD and caregiver outcomes have not been studied. The current study determined associations between affect and sleep of persons with AD and their caregivers using daily diary data. Multilevel mediation models indicated that sleep in persons with AD is linked to caregiver affect; furthermore, these associations are mediated by sleep characteristics in caregivers and affect in persons with AD. Daily fluctuations in sleep behaviors in persons with AD—rather than average values—were most strongly associated with caregiver outcomes. Interventions to improve sleep in persons with AD may decrease their negative affect and improve caregiver mood.

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